A Study in Charlie
by nesshaw
Summary: "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view - until you climb into his skin and walk around in it." - To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee


**For Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition Round 5**  
**Position**: Beater 1  
**Team** : Tutshill Tornadoes  
**Prompts**: Shadow and Radio  
**Words count** : 954  
**Disclaimer**: I don't own Harry Potter

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Charlie has learned a thing or two about life since he was a child. Life is a not a wish granting factory, not when your family wrestles with poverty—money isn't the only factor, he knows, but the lack of it shapes your character in a way that you appreciate little things better than most people do. He doesn't ask much and never wants more. He's showered with love and affection enough he thinks he's lucky to have a tight knit family.

Being a second child makes people strive for difference_. _You can't escape from comparison and expectation, and have to go through the fear of being your older sibling's shadow. Charlie is no different. Bill and he share many traits, and though he is not shy to admit his high respect and love for his brother, he used to wonder the same question that all of his younger siblings later mull over; what makes him special?

It took him only thirteen years of life to find the answer and another two years to start believing in it. There's something about magical creatures, a promise of never ending adventure and surprise that makes him devoted to them. Taking care of them is as natural as breathing, and only few people understand that. Most people think he's _nuts, _some of them may laugh behind his back, but never in front of him because even though he's short, he can be intimidating enough. The red hair he has cues all the jokes he receives, he doesn't mind them since he likes jokes and a laugh—don't all Weasleys like a laugh? Even Percy, his serious brother, has a sense of humour, though you have to catch him on a good day, in the right moment.

Flying is the third, or second (depends on how he ranks family and magical creatures; they could tie on the first place, or be the first and second in some situation) most important thing in his life. Being above the ground, clutching on a broom, and feeling the wind blowing hard against you are exhilarating for people who are daring and brave. He showed the Slytherin every single time they met in a game it was not all about _money. _His ears might turn red whenever they brought up his family condition, but it was not because he was embarrassed or _ashamed. _He was angry that they dared to insult his family and sad that they might not be as fortunate as him to have a happy loving family. He knew better than to be provoked and attacked them. That was probably the reason why he earned the prefect badge. Bill got one too, but he was literally a student role model. The thought of beating his brother academically never even crossed his mind.

Dragons, ah, one could say that the creature is the love of his life. The way his eyes lit up when he and Hagrid talked about them at the half giant's hut in the middle of his fifth year, he knew he found his _life goal. _The dream of being the England National Team's seeker suddenly wasn't as glorious as it used to be. The teachers wondered about his life choice and tried to make him change his mind, but he was done thinking twice about people's expectation and what he should and _wanted _to do.

At eighteen, he went to Romania for dragons.

At fifty eight, he dies in the fire because of dragons.

There is a forty year gap between those moments that teaches him many things about life. The more he knows, the less he understands. Humans are far too complex and crueler, always changing, and life is a big wheel that only rotates once, filled with prejudice and judgment and hate, so he sets his attention on dragons.

(They are his hamartia).

Molly, his mum, not his niece, never ceases to ask him when he will settle down. He _has_ settled down, though not in the way she wants. He can't really tell her that he can't muster up the particular feeling that he simply doesn't have. That is a concept that she will never understand.

He's pretty content with what he has; the life in Romania, the ever big family who grow bigger and bigger every day (Teddy and his niece, Victoire, are expecting a baby. Merlin, is he that old?), some friends who have been his constant since he stepped his foot onto the foreign place that has become his permanent home, and an old radio which has its own value and is now broken. He can fix it, but he prefers it to stay the way it is.

It's a remainder of whom he lost in the war.

The war, it is never a topic that Charlie would like to bring up. There's a hole somewhere inside him that can't be closed since he saw the ghost of smile on Fred's face and his unseeing eyes. George took his twin's death the hardest, but everyone's grieving too. You can't get over a strange feeling of seeing someone younger and yet die earlier than you.

His death, like most people's, is unpredictable. He is almost sure he knows the answer to how, but not when. He already saw it coming, though, ever since he signed up to study about dragons.

They say your life flashes before your eyes when you are about to die.

He sees Fred instead, looking the same like the last time Charlie saw him. The only thing different from his brother is his hair which is longer than Charlie has ever seen. Fred is grinning with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"I come to pick you up, Bro."


End file.
